Megan Fox, Billy Crystal, Robin Williams star in Oscars 2012 trailer

The short video - entitled 'Off the Grid' - stars new Oscars hostBilly Crystal and features cameos from Megan Fox, Robin Williams, William Fichtner, Josh Duhamel and Vinnie Jones.

The trailer for the 84th Academy Awards jokes about the search for a host after Eddie Murphy decided to quit the role in November last year, showing Fox, Williams, Jones and Duhamel in a fantasy-style quest to find Crystal.

Academy Chief Marketing Officer Christina Kounelias told The Hollywood Reporter: "We wanted to try something a little bit different this year instead of a traditional, clip-based piece. The trailer has a fun twist that conveys how excited everyone is to have Billy back."

The clip, which was created by the Academy and Funny or Die, will run for one month in over 2,000 cinemas from today (January 5).

Funny or Die's president of production Mike Farah said: "Our team had a great time working with the Academy and joining forces with Billy again. We think the trailer really speaks to the excitement around this year's Oscars, and Funny or Die was honored to be a part of it."

Murphy withdrew from the Academy Awards following the resignation of producer Brett Ratner, who had been criticized for using the word "f*gs" during a question and answer session for his movie Tower Heist.